Choices
by RnRForever
Summary: When Ross and Chandler visit Rachel and Monica, everyone's lives change completely. Is it for better? Read and review please. Joey and Phoebe will be in it too. BTW, I was RnRlovers4ever and I posted this before but now it's way different. Well, R&R!
1. The Dream

Ok, so I'm back. Anyone miss me? I know that I posted this story before, but I did change it quite a bit so if you've read it, please read it over again. Ok, here goes nothing. Read and review please :).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The piercing sound of the alarm broke straight through Rachel's dream. Grunting, she lifted herself on her elbows to hit the SNOOZE button. 7.20, the clock read. With a sigh, Rachel fell back on her comfy bed. 'It's Saturday', she thought 'Why do I have to wake up now?' She tried to remember her dream, but it just wouldn't come back. She couldn't fall asleep anymore either, so with an annoyed groan she stood up and got dressed.

'Wow, my house is huge' Rachel realized as she wandered around the many halls and rooms of her home. There was a game room, with pool tables, some video and arcade games, and a mini restaurant. She fixed herself a cappuccino while playing one of the games, but soon got bored and left the room. 

They had more than enough rooms in the house, and some were empty because they just couldn't find any use for them. Tired of walking around the house, Rachel returned to her room, flopping down on the bed. Her room was very spacious and just gorgeous. The walls were a soft blue-violet colour; there was a plush carpet spread throughout the floor; a few paintings on her walls… There was a large mirror across from her bed, which was high and looked like something a queen would sleep in, now that Rachel thought about it. 

It was now almost 8 AM and Rachel tried to think of something to do. She walked over to the balcony door and stepped outside. There was a soft breeze, but not really cold. Rachel's balcony had a view to her large outdoor pool, decorated like a waterfall, and the backyard garden. It was really beautiful, especially in the morning light. 

Getting a bit cold, Rachel went back inside and sat down looking at the various framed pictures in her room. There were a few of her parents, one of her, Mindy, Leana, Mel and Jenny. They were her best friends in school. Being friends with them made her life so simple. Everything was in control. But right then she didn't yet fully realize how big of a part they played in that. 

There were also quite a few pictures of her, Monica and Ross. She picked up one of those pictures and stared at it for some time. Monica and her have been best friends just about ever since she could remember. She thought nothing would ever tear them apart. Ross's place in her life was undefined as of yet. He was her friend, that's for sure, but…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_Monica is in the school gym, at the prom. She is dressed very nicely and is very thin and looks beautiful. Though people look up at her in awe, she is there alone. She joins Rachel, but soon Rachel excuses herself and goes to dance, so Monica is left alone again. She sits there, sipping on her drink, when a gorgeous guy comes up to her, smiling softly._

_"Hey… You wanna dance?"_

_She has no idea who he is, yet at the same time, she has known him for a long time. She smiles up at him._

_"I'd love to." She replies._

_He stretches his hand out to her, and she takes it as she gets up. They dance slowly to the calm rhythm of the music. The feeling of the guy's hands around her mesmerizes Monica, and she forgets about everything else. She knows him, she does. And yet she has absolutely no idea._

_The song comes to an end and Monica feels her dream guy slipping away._

_"I have to go." He tells her apologetically._

_"No, wait." She tries to call him, "Don't go. At least tell me your name."_

_He laughs; "I'm Chandler", and their hands pull apart reluctantly as he mixes with the crowd, leaving Monica to stand there._

"Monica…" She whispers to his retreating figure, and she thinks she can hear him say 'I know' as he turns back to smile at her before disappearing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Monica woke up in her bed, and it took her a couple of minutes to figure out where she was. 'Whoa' she thought, 'that was a weird dream. What kind of name is Chandler anyway?' She shook off the last effects of her dream, got up and got dressed.

"MON!" A male voice that Monica immediately recognized as Ross's called from downstairs, "Get down here!"

Monica rolled her eyes and tried to ignore her brother as she finished getting ready.

"MONICA!!" He yelled even louder, causing Monica to cringe and roll her eyes again, "MON—" He started, but was interrupted by Monica yelling back in annoyance, "I'm coming! I'm coming."

She came downstairs, ready to get mad at Ross for disturbing her. Halfway down, though, she saw a guy standing there along with Ross. No, not just a guy. He was special, she knew. 'Who is he?' Monica's mind raced. She clearly knew that she saw him somewhere before. 'But where?' she wondered to herself.

"Yeah, Ross, what do you want?" She tried not to stare at the mysterious guy next to her brother, knowing she would start blushing otherwise.

"Hey Mon, you're up. I wanted to introduce my roommate from college to you. Mon, this is—" He started.

He didn't have to finish because when Ross's roommate looked up at Monica, she knew who he was. His haircut was weird and very different, but he was the same guy, she knew.

"I'm Chandler." He smiled at her. 'I know' Monica thought while she smiled back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So what'd you think? It's pretty short but it's just the beginning. I was gonna post this chapter on Thursday or Friday but I couldn't upload it for some reason. Please be nice in your reviews, I've been out of the writing thing for a while and I hope you liked it. Let me know in your reviews please. Oh yeah and, disclaimer, I don't own FRIENDS, any of the characters, am in no way related to them or the writers or the producers or the… Anybody. Absolutely no association with any of the people even semi-close to the show. Just a fan with lots of imagination and free time.


	2. Complications

Well people who read the first chapter seemed to like it. YAY lol. You don't know how encouraging that is to me. To come back and be a little out of experience and still have people like my writing… Thank you. Please review this chapter too, I hope you like it. I'm really anxious to post the rest now. :) Oh but sorry I couldn't update this sooner but during this pre-last week of school we have projects and tests every SINGLE day so I really didn't have time. At least it's over next Thursday! So, from where I left off:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Um, my name is Monica. It's nice to meet you." She said, still smiling at Chandler, and he was starting to get uncomfortable under her stare.

"You too. Ross always talks about how great his sister is." Chandler just outright lied. She stared at him in disbelief and accusation. "Ok, fine, he talks about you." He tried again, but Monica kept glaring at him. "Oh come on! Ok, so he talks about Rachel and mentions you once in a while. There." Monica laughed at how uncomfortable he looked. "I swear, you could read minds, can't you?" He said after calming down a bit. Monica almost sent out a vibe that told him he can be just himself and didn't have to feel so uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course I can." Monica said in a mock important voice, "Right now you are thinking of um… The chicken over on that table" She smirked as she saw him staring at the chicken.

"Well…" Chandler turned light red, "We haven't eaten since we left, and that was a while ago, so we're kind of hungry"

"You don't have to explain. Speaking of we, where is Ross anyway?" Monica wondered.

"Uh I didn't notice where he went…" Chandler said, looking around.

Ross came in from the kitchen. "Oh, you finally noticed I was gone." He said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice, "I thought you guys were in a coma or something, staring at each other like that." Both Monica and Chandler blushed at that, "And, Mon, I'm glad to see you're pleased to have me back too." He said with more sarcasm now.

"Oh I'm sorry, I love to have you back, and you know that!" She hugged him to prove it.

"I know, I know. I was just kidding." Ross said, then blushed slightly and tried to sound casual, " So, uh, is Rachel gonna come here anytime soon?"

"Smooth, man." Chandler whispered sarcastically to him, while Ross blushed even more.

Monica stared at him in amusement, "Straight to the point, right?" She chuckled at her nervous brother. He's had a huge crush on Rachel since, well just about ever since they've been friends, and he could never tell her, "Actually she wasn't planning to come over today," she said and Ross's face fell, "but it's a special occasion so I'm gonna call her." She added to make her brother feel better.

"Yeah, you know, whatever." He tried to sound nonchalant again, failing miserably. Chandler cracked up at his roommate's awkwardness. He knew ALL about Rachel, or everything that Ross knew. There wasn't one day when Ross didn't say something about her.

Monica left and dialed Rachel's number. She hoped not to wake her friend, since it was only about 9 and, well, who is up at 9 AM on a Saturday?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sharp ringing of the phone broke through Rachel's thoughts. She quickly grabbed the phone, thankful to have something to distract her from her thoughts right then.

"Hello?" She said cheerfully into the phone.

"Hey Rach"

"Oh, hey Mon, what's up?"

"Uh well Ross and his roommate Chandler came from college and, well, they really want to meet you, so you wanna come over right now?" Monica got straight to her point.

"Uh sure, got nothing to do anyway. Oh, I didn't tell you, my parents are gonna be gone for two weeks starting today!"

"Oh my god, really? That's great!"

"Yeah, it really is." Rachel sighed. She couldn't believe her luck when she was able to talk her parents into going without her. They had to leave on a business trip and she was going to be left all alone in their huge house. This was gonna be fun!

"Ok, well get over here ASAP, I have a lot to talk to you about." Monica rushed her.

"Ok, I'll be over in 10 minutes."

"Hey, what are you doing up so early anyway?"

"Fantasizing about all the things we could do while my parents are gone!" Rachel giggled into the phone, "Well, actually I turned on my alarm yesterday by reflex and I couldn't fall back asleep…"

"Oh ok, well just get over here."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not too long later, Rachel knocked on Monica's front door. Ross answered and invited her in. Chandler was inside, talking to Monica and he turned around as Ross and Rachel went in. Right then, Rachel and Chandler's eyes locked and for just a bit they couldn't seem to turn away.

"Uh, Chandler, this is Rachel. Rachel, Chandler." Ross introduced them, trying unsuccessfully to get either of them to look up.

Finally, Rachel smiled, stepped closer to him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Chandler. That's a very unique name."

"Yeah that's what everyone says, but I'd just like to remind you that I didn't name myself and my parents are very weird people!" Chandler said in defense.

"No, I like it." Rachel smiled at him again as he looked at her in surprise. "It's good unique."

"Rach, I gotta talk to you for a sec." Monica sounded impatient as she talked to Rachel.

"Oh yeah, sure." Rachel said unfazed and they went up to Monica's room. "Wow, that Chandler sure is something. I mean, he needs a haircut, but otherwise…"

"Yeah I know…" Monica said sadly.

"So do you think he'd go out with me?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow, so that's Rachel…" Chandler said.

"Yeah…" Ross sighed dreamily, "She's amazing."

"I bet she is." Chandler said quietly, and Ross didn't notice the dreamy look in his eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wanna play Truth or Dare?" Rachel suddenly jumped up excitedly. The four had been thinking of something to do for quite some time now and were all pretty bored.

"Uh I don't know…" Truth or Dare was never a good game for Monica, and now in presence of Chandler…

"No come on, we gotta! I love Truth or Dare!" Chandler begged Mon, making puppy eyes at her.

"Um ok, fine." Monica gave in.

"Great! I go first!" Ross called out, "Uh, Rach, truth or dare?"

"Hmm, dare." She answered.

"Ok…" Ross sounded a little disappointed, "I dare you to… get a temporary tattoo."

"I think I have one of a rose somewhere!" Monica called out and ran to search for it, soon coming back triumphantly with the tattoo in her hands.

"Ross, can you help me out here?" Rachel asked innocently.

"Um, o-ok…" Ross stuttered, blushing. "Wh-where do you want it?"

Rachel looked from her shoulders to her stomach, "Right there", she pointed to her hip.

Ross blushed even more but applied the temp tattoo on Rachel's hip. They showed it to Mon and Chandler and agreed that it looked really good.

"Maybe I'll get a real one there someday then." Rachel smiled at Ross, "Ok, my turn, Mon, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who do you have a crush on?" Rachel asked smirking at her.

"Uh I changed my mind." Monica said quickly, "I choose dare."

"Ok, I dare you to tell me who you like." Rachel laughed.

"Ch—Chase. A guy in our school named Chase…" Monica lied.

Rachel looked at her weirdly but believed her.

"Ross?" Monica turned to her victim.

"Truth." Ross replied bravely.

"Do you like Rachel?" Monica got to the point while Rachel stared at her in surprise.

"Umm" Ross blushed, "Yeah" He whispered really quickly.

"Oh my god, really?" Rachel looked at him, honestly shocked. It was her turn to blush when thoughts about how good he looked crept into her head.

"Yeah so Chandler?" Ross changed the subject.

"Uh dare. I'm not taking any chances."

"Hmm, I dare you to sing "My Girl" to those girls outside there." Ross laughed.

"Oh come on… Fine ok." Chandler got himself together, went out to the four girls that were chatting close to the Geller's home, and started singing. The girls stared at him strangely and when he wouldn't stop, walked away.

When Chandler came back, Ross, Monica and Rachel were all barely breathing from laughing so much. Chandler didn't sing really well.

"Ok, ok, very funny. Let's just keep going." Chandler said annoyed.

They played the game for a while more but then they were all so tired that everyone went to sleep. Well, went to their rooms anyway.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chandler couldn't sleep. He lay on the couch, not even trying to get comfortable, thinking about a certain person. The person he'd just met today. The person he had no right to think about, and the person he knew his best friend has liked since about forever. Rachel.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well yeah, that's it. I actually think it sucks, but it's still one of those boring introductory chapters and stuff you know? It'll get better. Once again, sorry for the long time it took me to update. I was going to update like two days after the first chapter but I never had time… This week it will be better though, I promise. So, please review, tell me if you like it. I hope you like it.


	3. Sunrise

**_I know, I know, I promised I'll update faster and all but I was depressed. If you read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not done mourning yet, but I can finally write Friends. Sorry for the long delay, I really am sorry. Thank you people, for liking my story, for sticking with me while I update, for everything. But stop asking me if it's MC or RR or RC, etc. If I answered you, there'd be no surprise in the story. So just bare with me and remember that even if it seems like one thing… well things aren't always as they seem! LOL. You know what's funny? I have more than two pages of a plot written down for this story and it's not over yet, but so far in the last two chapters, I've only covered oh about 3 LINES!!! I'm gonna try to write more meaningful chapters from now on (and not spend so much space trying to get to a point). * rolls eyes at myself * Well that was the longest Author's Note ever, so I'll get going with the story. Still don't own them, never will, but the plot is mine, mine, mine!_**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sighing, Chandler got up from the couch. There was little point in trying to fall asleep when it wasn't possible to get comfortable on the lumpy cushions of it, and every thought he had was so occupied by Rachel that if he was sleepy, he wouldn't have noticed it. Still lost in thought, he walked through the kitchen, heading for the backyard door, when something hit him on his head from the dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rachel was trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep. Tossing and turning in her bed, she finally gave up. Standing up quietly, careful not to wake up Monica, she put on appropriate clothes and sneaked out of the room. She went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for a snack or a drink or anything. Finally, she took out a bottle of Dasani water which seemed to be the only drinkable thing in there since the Gellers were due to go grocery shopping the next day. She heard a noise and turned around. The moonlight from the backyard door dimly lit up the room and she saw a figure wandering towards the door, seemingly lost in thought. Before she could stop herself, Rachel hit the person on the head with her water bottle. What if it was a burglar?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What—are—you—doing—here—???" A female voice yelled quietly while continuously hitting the male figure on his head.

"Rachel? It's me Chandler, stop doing that!!!" Chandler recognized the frightened voice as the object of his thoughts.

"Chandler?" Rachel put down the water. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I thought you were a burglar or something." She apologized.

"And you were gonna kill me with a water bottle?" Chandler asked incredulously.

"Umm well it was the only thing that came to mind at the time…" Rachel blushed but it wasn't visible in the dark.

"All right" Chandler sounded highly amused. "What are you doing up this late anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep so I came down to get some water and well why are you up too?"

"Couldn't sleep." Chandler said simply. "Well I'm gonna go sit outside for a while. Good night."

"Yeah… Wait can I come with you? You freaked me out so much, I doubt I would be able to fall asleep again today." She smiled at him apologetically when he reached his hand to rub the sore spot left from the Dasani bottle.

"I don't see why not. Just please, keep that bottle away from me." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

They went out on the back porch of the Gellers and sat there, talking about pretty much everything. They hadn't minded the time until Rachel noticed the sun starting to rise. She nudged Chandler to watch as the sky turned to an orange-yellow-ish colour instead of the cool dark blue it was before. It was still dark but the first few rays of sunshine had peeked from beneath the light fluffy clouds. The two watched as the sun rose slowly, as if waking this part of the world. The darkness melted into the warm, light day this one was promising to be.

Entranced by the beauty of this simple act of nature, Chandler almost didn't notice that Rachel had leaned her head on his shoulder and slipped her arm around him. Almost. He snapped out of his dreamy mood and jumped up, immediately regretting his action. Rachel looked at him, hurt, disappointment, confusion and guilt evident as she looked up at him.

"Rach, why—I'm sorry… Look, I can't do this to Ross. He—he—" Chandler trailed off, mumbling indistinctly to himself.

"What does Ross have to do with this?" Rachel asked, now more confused than anything. She liked Chandler, and he acted like he liked her too. So what was the problem?

"Rachel, he likes you."

"Yeah but I like you. And if I'm not mistaken, you seem to like me too. Ross can't control me" She broke Chandler off, getting mad.

"I do, I do like you. And yeah, he can't control you, but Rach he likes you A LOT." Rachel stared at him, still confused. "Rachel… Ross is in love with you. He is, and he's my best friend, and I can't let anything ruin that. I'm so sorry, like you wouldn't believe but…"

"Ross? He—he's in LOVE with me? I mean, I know he likes me but… When did this happen?" She seemed to be thinking out loud.

"It's been happening since the ninth gra—" Chandler stopped himself, turned a strange pale white and hurried into the house before he could say anything else.

Rachel was left alone, sitting on the steps, trying to take all this in.

Um, basically this is the end of this chapter. Yes, it's pretty short but I'll have the next one soon and I really will. I'll even start writing it now. I will! Well please review. Please, please, please. I hope you liked it… I'll try to have the next one up tomorrow or so since this one's extra short… Or possibly even today. Well thanks for reading *cough * review * cough*


	4. New Couple

Oh come on, I really did try to update ASAP and it still took me like 6 days. I'm mad at myself too. Well, here I am: (and to any people who like Harry Potter here, this is a totally shameless plug for my fic Find A Way, which is HP and is based on reversing the sad thing that happened at the end of the fifth book. It's what has kept me from updating chapter 3 and this one sooner, and please read it :D if you wanna that is…) Well on with the story, I still don't own Friends, the characters, most of the surrounding areas and stuff… You get the point. Oh yeah and it's Sunday in the fic. And another thing, I know that Central Perk was some other place back in this time but pretend that it was still Central Perk back then. So:

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~__

In the morning, everyone was quiet and barely spoke. Chandler wouldn't meet Rachel's gaze, Rachel was too caught up in her thoughts to even talk; Ross just felt uncomfortable and somehow caught up in all the tension and Monica was still upset about Rachel's feelings for Chandler. Basically, no one talked except to say good morning to the Gellers or when someone needed the salt. For any of them, this was a strange occurrence. Usually, you couldn't shut them up.

"So what do you guys wanna do?" Rachel asked, kind of awkwardly.

"Hey, what about that place beside Central Park that just opened?" Ross jumped in.

"Oh yeah, Central Perk or something. I heard they make great cappuccinos." Monica said.

"Well, cappuccinos sound good." Chandler finally talked.

"Then let's go. It's nice out, you guys want to just walk there?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, sure, ok" Came scattered replies from the three.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The foursome came into the coffee place and looked around. Nobody looked up when the little bells on the door jingled, announcing the friends' arrival. There were tables spread out through Central Perk and in the middle, there was a sofa and two loveseats around a coffee table. Everything was a nice, calm, beige colour.

After looking around for a bit, the four headed towards the sofa. One of the loveseats was occupied by a perky looking woman, around Rach and Monica's age, who was biting her blonde hair and writing something that looked like a song. She had a guitar and she played some chords, as if testing them out, once in a while. A dark haired man around Chandler and Ross's age was occupying the other seat. He was intently watching what the guitar girl was doing. By Rachel's standards, the guy was pretty hot.

Even after they sat down on the sofa, none of the occupants of the loveseats looked up at them. Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with doing nothing in the coffee shop.

"May I help you with anything?" The four were startled to see a grouchy-looking man standing over them impatiently.

"Um four cappuccinos." Rachel said quickly.

"Hey Carl can you get us two?" The guitar girl finally looked up. Carl, the grouchy-looking man, nodded and disappeared behind the counter of the shop.

"He there makes THE best cappuccinos anywhere!" She exclaimed to the group. "I'm Phoebe."

"Joey." The man beside her reached out to shake everyone's hand.

"Hey, I'm Rachel." She was followed by an interested 'How YOU doin?' from Joey, at which Rachel giggled a bit.

"Ross."

"Chandler."

"Monica. Nice to meet you two."

"Do you guys live around here?" Rachel asked.

"Well I live across the street from the Park. Pheebs, she…" He paused, looking at Phoebe to explain.

"Oh yeah. Um see my mom committed suicide when I was 13 and I've lived with this guy but well he committed suicide too… Then I tried aromatherapy and I met Joey here. We were in a French club!" She exclaimed, getting excited. "Ooh it was so much fun! _Bonjour._" She said in a semi French accent.

"Yeah but tell me, what's the fun in a French club if you don't French kiss?" Joey said, looking as if he was making the most accurate and serious point ever. Chandler and Ross shrugged and half nodded, agreeing.

"Anyway and then this place opened up and now we barely leave here." Phoebe beamed at her listeners. "Ooh and I'm writing this song right now! Wanna hear it?" Before they could reply, she said, "It's called Smelly Cat.

_"Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_What are they feeding you?_

_Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_La la la la_

_"They won't take you to the vet,_

_You're something not their favourite pet,_

_You may not something la roses_

_And you're no friend to those with noses_

_"Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_What are they feeding you?_

_Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_Something la la…"_

"I'm not totally done writing it, but I think it's coming along quite well, don't you?" She looked at them for support.

"Oh yeah, of course, it's great…" Came rushed replies from the rest.

"I used to sing with Leslie, she was my best friend and then she decided she'd rather write, y'know, _jingles_, so whatever." Phoebe said, obviously irritated. Just then, Carl came up to them with their cappuccinos. "Took long enough." She snapped. He gave her the cappuccino and she took a sip. "Aww thanks, that's so sweet of you!" She said sweetly to Carl, everyone freaked out with her sudden mood change.

"Um you're welcome Weird Girl." He walked away after giving everyone else their drinks too.

"Aww he has a nickname for me!" She sighed while everyone exchanged looks.

"Right." Rachel said quickly. "Anyway, so you two are in here all the time?"

"Just about." Joey said.

"Well this place is pretty close to mine, if you ever wanna come by, we could all hang out." Rachel said.

"Oh I don't think I can…" Joey started.

"My parents are gonna be gone for a month starting today."

"Did I say I don't, cause I meant of course I can!"

"Ooh yeah that'd be fun, we could have a sleepover!! Ooh a sleepover!! I LOVE sleepovers!!" Phoebe said, practically jumping up and down on her seat, getting way over excited.

"You wanna go now?" Rachel proposed.

"Yeah sure." Everyone agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They arrived at the Greene mansion soon after.

"Wow…" was all Chandler was capable of saying, gawking at the huge house with an open mouth. Ross and Monica have seen the house before but were still in awe.

"Man… you must be RICH!" Joey exclaimed.

"Well not so much, we inherited this house–" Rachel said, embarrassed.

"Oh come on, you're rich like hell." Monica said, interrupting Rachel and she blushed.

"I have NEVER seen a house this big in my whole life." Phoebe commented absentmindedly.

After getting over the general shock, they came in. Rachel's parents had already left. The friends played pool for a while, talking about whatever came to mind. Finally, it was night and everyone was tired, so the girls and guys split up into two rooms on the opposite ends of the hall upstairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, girl talk! Haven't done that in a while." Phoebe said, motioning for the girls to sit in a circle. "Ooh, ok so what do you think of the guys? Monica, you first."

"Umm well…" She blushed. "It's really weird… The night before I met Chandler, I had this dream about him. And it was him, for sure, he told me his name and all. And well, I like him a lot."

"Aww that means you guys are soulmates!!" Phoebe exclaimed happily to Monica.

"Rach?" Rachel was sitting there quietly.

"How come you never told me that?" Rachel said, kind of angrily.

"Well I…"

"If you told me, I wouldn't have…" She stopped.

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"Nothing, it's just that yesterday, I couldn't sleep and Chandler didn't either and we talked a bit and well he told me that Ross… is in love with me…"She trailed off. Rachel decided for Monica's good, to leave out some parts of last night.

"He told you??" Monica asked incredulously.

"You KNEW?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Well uh… yeah."

"This is interesting." Phoebe commented, watching them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, any of those girls your girlfriends?" Joey asked Chandler and Ross.

"No but Ross is in love with Rachel." Chandler said, resulting in his head getting smacked by Ross, reminding him of yesterday and the Dasani bottle.

"In love? Really?" Joey asked.

"No!" The two boys stared at Ross. "Yeah." He whispered and they burst out laughing.

"Well she is a really fun person to talk to." Chandler said, immediately regretting it.

"Chandler, you barely talk to her." Ross said, eyeing his best friend suspiciously.

"Umm y-yes, o-o-of course, I n-never talk t-to h-her" Chandler replied, not looking at Ross and stuttering.

"Anyway, don't tell her. I don't want her to know yet." Ross said to Joey.

"Why not man?" Joey asked as if it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"Because. Just not now." Ross said, Joey shook his head at him and Chandler laughed nervously.

"She knows." Chandlers said extremely quietly and quickly, looking down.

"WHAT?" Ross yelled.

"I'm sorry but yesterday we both couldn't sleep at night and well we were outside talking and she was—and it just kind of slipped out." Chandler's voice was getting smaller and smaller.

"You were with her all night??"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. It's ok, breathe." Joey said, holding Ross away from Chandler. "Look man, the way I see it, he did you a favour. Did she avoid you today? No. And she knows. That means she has feelings for you too. What's that mean?"

Ross waited for him to say something, and when he didn't, he said, irritated, "I don't know, what??"

"Well you gotta ask her out!" He said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I can't – I can't do that… Wait hold on. Chandler, why'd you tell her? How did the subject come up?"

"Umm…" Chandler started trying to lie but gave up and told them what happened.

"You like her too??" Ross asked angrily.

"Oh, this is gonna take a while." Joey sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey how about this. Rachel, who do you like more, Ross or Chandler?" Phoebe asked.

"I think Ross. I've known him for so long and he's just… a great guy." Rachel sighed.

"Aww…" Monica said, relieved and happy for Rachel and Ross.

"Well then we don't have much of a problem. Rach, you go for Ross and Mon, you go for Chandler and me, and I'll just be around to stop you guys from fighting. That work?" Phoebe sighed, glad to have it over with.

"Yeah." Monica and Rachel agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Look, Ross, just go for it. You've loved her since the ninth grade and I can't take that away from you all right? Having a crush and being in love with someone are different things." Chandler said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now go on and ask her out already."

"Now?" Ross asked nervously.

The guys groaned and pushed Ross out of the door and towards the girls' room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a knock on the girls' door and Rachel opened it.

"Hey Ross, what's up?"

"Um can I talk to you in private for a second?"

"Uh sure." They went out into the hall and both the girls and the guys pressed against their door to listen.

"So…" Rachel started, waiting for Ross to say something but he was uncomfortably fidgeting.

"Hey um I was thinking that m-maybe… d-do you wanna go out with m-me?" He looked up at her hopefully, unconsciously forming a puppy-face.

"I'd love to Ross! Aww" She hugged him, and could not help but think how cute he looked just then.

From both sides of the hall, the doors burst open from the pressure the people on the other side were putting on them. The four regained their composure and stood there looking embarrassed for a minute before going over to hug the new couple. Everyone, even Chandler, was happy for the two.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**_Aah, I'm done. Next chapter is going to complicate things. A lot. Please, please review. Ugh and I'll TRY to update soon. Well, thanks for reading, and please just click that little purple button down there and be nice :)._**


	5. Confessions

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and anonymous2, I'm sorry but I had removed the name Sirius before I made the last chapter, and now it just says 'the sad thing that happened at the end of book 5', so I don't know what exactly you're talking about since you reviewed after I made the changes (by a request from Harriet). Nevertheless, I'm very sorry to both of you. I really didn't mean to spoil it for anyone; I guess I just didn't think about that. Once again, extremely sorry. Thank you for reviewing though. I decided to update sooner this time because, yay, I had time to. Oh and please note that today will be Monday in the story, all right? And I guess I've made quite a few changes from the facts we know about high school, or even maybe their ages… it's all stuff I'm not so sure about, but please bear with me. Phoebe doesn't go to school; she dropped out. Ross and Chandler, in case anyone forgot, came here for vacation so they don't have school now. Joey, supposedly, goes to a college but he also has vacation now. So only Rachel and Monica are going to school right now. They've got proms coming up too. And Rachel's friends, since I don't know their real names except Mindy, are going to be Leana, Melanie and of course Mindy. Ok, that's all for now, please read on. See how I complicate things *grins evilly *.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The six had gone to sleep soon after everyone congratulated Ross and Rachel last night. And now, it was early in the morning and Rachel and Monica had to get up to go to school. Phoebe had dropped out of school a while ago, she'd told them yesterday; all of the guys were in college but they were on summer vacation already so they didn't have to go anywhere either. So they worked out this plan, the four: Joey, Chandler, Ross and Phoebe, would hang around Central Park (or Perk) and meet Monica and Rachel on the school grounds after it was over.

Quickly eating a breakfast made of leftover pizza from last night, the two girls hurried off to school, and the other four left in the opposite direction to the park.

"So what are you gonna do about Chandler?" Rachel asked as her and Monica were walking.

"Well what can I do?" Monica blushed.

"Talk to him… Flirt with him… Get him to ask you out. Y'know?" Rachel said cheerfully. She couldn't seem to stop smiling since Ross had asked her out yesterday. She also seemed to have gotten over her crush on Chandler for Mon's sake.

"I don't know Rach, I mean it's easy for you to say. I'm not like you. I'm… fat." Monica said.

"Mon, you've lost so much weight already! You have to stop thinking so negatively about yourself! You're a great person and you're very beautiful, and you're not even overweight."

"Anymore." Monica finished for Rachel.

"Hey come on, you can't just sit around and do nothing. This guy may be your soulmate, as Phoebe said, you have to do something about it."

"Yeah, right." There wasn't any time left for them to argue right then though, because they had reached the school and were getting their books from their lockers. "Do we have any classes together first half?"

"No, not today."

"All right, I'll see you at lunch then." Monica said, taking her things and shutting her locker.

"See ya." Rachel waved and Monica headed off down the hall. Rachel checked her schedule and was just about to close her locker when Chip, a handsome and popular boy in her year, walked up to her.

"Hey Rach." He said nonchalantly, leaning against the locker next to her. Usually, Rachel would have been bursting from excitement that he came there but not today. She's had a crush on him for a long time, and he liked her too but today things were different.

"Rachel. And hi Chip." Rachel said. She didn't like anyone except her closest friends using her nickname.

"Well hey, do you wanna go out Friday?" He asked.

"Uh no, I have plans. Sorry Chip." She found she wasn't sorry at all. Friday was the day her and Ross were going to go on their first date and she was looking forward to it.

"Really?" He seemed taken aback, as if no one had refused him before but he soon regained his composure, "well that's all right. See you around Greene." And he walked off.

Rachel shook her head slightly, closed her locker and almost bumped into her three friends, Mindy, Leana and Melanie.

"Hey Rachel!" Mindy exclaimed, hugging her. "Long time, no see. How was your weekend?" Rachel's classes in her first half of the day were the same as the other three's so they walked down to their first class, French Literature, together. "Wait, wait, first tell me, what have you got to do so important that you won't go out with Chip Matthews?" She squealed excitedly. Obviously, the three had heard Rachel's little conversation with Chip. _(A/N, Matthews IS his last name, right? Sorry, I don't know for sure)_

"Well um, you know Ross Geller?" Rachel asked.

"Ross Geller? Isn't he that geeky older brother of that fat girl, what's her name, Monica?" Leana asked in disgust.

"Hey! Monica's my friend, and she's lost a lot of weight. And besides, Ross isn't that geeky." Rachel snapped and the three just rolled their eyes.

"I don't know why you hang around with that girl, Rachel." Melanie noted. "People can see you with her, you know." Rachel rolled her eyes and ignored the comment.

"Well anyway, Ross, he kind of asked me out last night…" Rachel began.

"What'd you tell him?" Leana interrupted, chuckling.

"Of course she said no." Mindy rolled her eyes at Leana with a 'DUH!' expression.

"Well I know _that_, but how'd you break it to him, Rachel?"

"Did he cry?" Melanie laughed. Rachel stopped and looked at them.

"I said yes." She said slowly. The girls all stared at her for a moment, then, as one, started laughing.

"You almost had me there for a minute!" Mindy said after calming down.

"Yeah, that was funny!" Melanie said. Rachel looked at them seriously.

"You _are_ kidding right?" Leana asked in disbelief that she might not be.

"No. I'm going out on Friday with Ross Geller." Rachel said firmly.

"You—you're _what? _I mean, it's bad enough that you hang around with that social outcast Mona—"

"MONICA" Rachel interrupted Mindy, getting angrier by the second. "For your information, she was my best friend long before any of you guys and that is staying that way!"

"Fine. Fine, you wanna choose them?" Mindy half yelled, getting angry too. "Rachel, we _made_ you into what you are. You're like an idol to these people, to everyone. They _envy _you. You can't just throw that away." Leana and Melanie stood behind Mindy, nodding their heads once in a while but not participating in the conversation.

Rachel stood there for a moment; staring at the people she'd considered her friends. Had she never noticed how ignorant, stupid and just bitchy they were? "Watch me." She said quietly, turned around and walked into the classroom without turning back to them.

"Rachel. Rachel! You don't realize how much you're giving up! Rachel! You're going to be begging for us to be your friends!" Rachel, however, did not turn around at Mindy's yells. Furious, Mindy turned to her other two friends. "Well then, let's make her life hell." She smiled evilly at them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The day went by as usual, but Mindy, Leana, and Melanie were completely ignoring Rachel, as she was doing to them. She mentioned nothing about the incident to Monica and it was taken off her mind completely by the time school ended. She found herself eager to see Ross again and the two were hurrying as fast as they could when the bell rang to dismiss students for the day, to meet the others.

"Hey guys." Rachel smiled, acting casual even though she'd just gotten out of the school in record time to meet them and Monica was tired from being almost dragged out.

The four greeted them and the friends set off to Central Perk.

"Hey, I finished writing Smelly Cat today!" Phoebe suddenly said, excited. "Chandler helped me out." She hugged Chandler. And then again. And again. And—

"Whoa, Pheebs, calm down, I only helped you with a couple of words." He said, laughing. Monica was watching them jealously.

"Yeah, well." Phoebe said vaguely after finally letting go of Chandler. "I'm going to play it too, in front of the customers. Carl let me." She beamed at her friends. "He's in a good mood today."

They entered the coffee shop, and again, no one looked up but there was more chattering going on, so that was an improvement. Phoebe headed off to order drinks and talk to Carl while the rest got seated. Ross and Rachel sat beside each other on the sofa; Chandler sat on the other side of the sofa. Joey was in one of the loveseats and Monica was in the other. Phoebe finished talking to Carl and went up to the small stage beside the front doors of the shop.

"Hey everyone." She tapped the mike to make sure it was working, and then got her guitar in position. Quite a few people looked up; apparently Phoebe played a lot in here and they knew her. "I'm going to play a new song today, it's called Smelly Cat." And she sang Smelly Cat, the full version of it that we have come to know and love now.

_"Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_What are they feeding you?_

_Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_It's not your fault_

_"They won't take you to the vet,_

_You're obviously not their favourite pet,_

_You may not be a bed of roses_

_And you're no friend to those with noses_

_"Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_What are they feeding you?_

_Smelly cat, smelly cat,_

_It's not your fault"_

She finished and people clapped loudly, especially the group. She thanked everyone and went to sit down between Rachel and Chandler on the sofa. Sometime during the song, Rachel leaned back on Ross and she was now resting her head on his shoulder and he had his arm wrapped around her. Everyone thought that was cute but didn't say anything so they wouldn't get embarrassed. Meanwhile, Phoebe decided to follow suit. She rested her head on Chandler's shoulder and put her hand on his arm. He jumped lightly from the sudden contact but she didn't seem to notice.

"Wow, you must work out." She said, looking up at him.

"I-I-uhh" Chandler was at loss for words. And Monica was glaring at Phoebe in disbelief. She was outright flirting with Chandler when she knew that Monica liked him!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That night, the group separated. Phoebe had gone to stay with Joey as, apparently, she did often, Rachel went home, and Chandler, Ross and Monica went to the Gellers' home. Ross and Monica's parents weren't going to be home that night anyway. But Rachel needed to study so she couldn't come along. Ross went to sleep early, acting as if he was on cloud nine ever since his and Rachel's actions at Central Perk. Chandler went upstairs to talk to Ross about something and Monica stayed downstairs, alone with her thoughts.

Phoebe had been flirting with Chandler the whole night, and he was even flirting back. And just after she'd told them how much Chandler meant to her! Monica looked through her kitchen and found a bottle of something that she didn't recognize but knew was alcoholic. She sat down and drank from the bottle, trying to drown out her thoughts. Soon enough, the bottle ended and Monica saw two identical looking guys with strange hair walk into the kitchen and look down at her in concern. Then she did a double take.

"Mon! Mon, are you ok? What'd you do?" Chandler's voice echoed in her ears.

"I—I—you have pretty eyes, you know that?" She smiled at him, looking really… drunk.

"Yeah ok Mon, let's get you to the sofa, all right?" He said, trying to get her to walk towards the sofa.

"I'm not drunk!" She yelled angrily.

"I never said you were."

"But I am" Monica grinned at him. "I'm so drunk!" She laughed and collapsed into his hands. "I love you." She said sweetly, looking up at him.

"Mon, come on, don't—" Chandler began but was interrupted. Monica shot out of his hands and started yelling; sobriety showing in her eyes a bit now.

"You don't believe me? I'm not just saying that cause I'm drunk, you know. I like you! A lot!" She shouted. "Guess why I'm drunk anyway?" She then giggled. He didn't say anything. "Phoebe was flirting with you in there. And I told her that I like you a lot, and she still did it. And, and, and… your eyes are so pretty" She said, smiling at him again. "I really, really like you. Did I tell you that?" She leaned in to kiss him and to her surprise, he leaned in too. Their lips almost touched when Monica fell forwards into his hands, passed out. Chandler swore quietly and got her to the sofa.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

**_There. Done. That's your beginning of C&M, kinda. Hope it satisfies your standards! A quick note, I've never been drunk (not that I want to), so the only thing I know about it is that you start saying whatever's on your mind and you get a headache afterwards. So if I seem very amateury in the whole drunk seen, I am. And yes, I know Monica is under legal drinking age but she just found the bottle. Don't be mad. What to look forward to in the next (few) chapter(s): Ross and Rachel's first date; Chandler and Monica's post reactions to what happened up there today; Mindy, Leana and Melanie's plans to ruin Rachel's life; did Phoebe really mean to flirt with Chandler; where Joey fits in; why the fic is named Choices, if you haven't figured it out yet; etc. (not necessarily in that order). Please review and see ya next time in Choices (lol). Oh and yay me, I got through about half a page in my plot outline now! Things should be much more to the point from now on._**


	6. The Day After

Thanks to my reviewers. Love ya guys. You made me feel so guilty for not updating sooner though. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry *takes breath * sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry… Ahem, anyway. I cut down on my plot a bit so I don't think this story will be too long now, maybe 3-5 more chapters or so. And it's supposed to be Tuesday (school day) but that would clash with the whole Monica being hung over thing, so we'll say that this particular Tuesday is a holiday of some sort, all right? Cause I don't want her to skip this particular day of school… anyway starting next chapter, it's gonna be more than one day per chappy all right? Ok, read on:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Monica's eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to realize where she was: lying on the sofa in the living room with Chandler sitting, asleep in the armchair beside her.

"Chandler?" She whispered, yet Chandler shuddered and woke up, looking around.

"Oh, Mon, you're up." He walked over to her, feeling her forehead. "You all right?"

"Fine. Chandler, yesterday… Did I—did we—" She tried to ask but couldn't.

"Yeah. Well, almost." Chandler knew what she was saying anyway.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. _Oh my God._" Monica repeated to herself. "No. This can't be happening. This can't—"

"Hey. Shh. It's ok." He bent down to her, his hand running through her hair and kissed her. It took her some time to react but Monica kissed him back. Then they broke off. The pounding pain in her forehead got lost somewhere along the way; so did just about the rest of the world. Slowly, he pulled away and Monica gave a disapproving groan. Chandler laughed. "I was thinking, you know… and, well, would you wanna go out with me?"

"Really?" Monica looked at him.

"Yeah…"

"Ok!" She suddenly almost jumped up, wide-awake but then groaned and lay back down from the pain in her temple as she did so. "Oww" she groaned, wincing and Chandler went to get her some Tylenol. _'We're gonna have a _lot_ to explain once Ross wakes up'_, Chandler thought, shaking his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Phoebe woke up, stretching and yawning. Light was shining brightly through the window. Joey had a two-bedroom apartment, the second bedroom was pretty much for no one; he was trying to get a roommate but never did. So any time that Phoebe came over, she slept in that spare room. She normally didn't like to wake up early but the noise from her open window woke her up multiple times and she couldn't sleep anymore. Groaning, Phoebe got up and went to the kitchen to find something to drink. Joey was still sleeping. Could have expected as much; he loved sleeping. Phoebe filled a big cup with ice-cold water and walked into Joey's room.

"Oh Joey!" She said softly. He murmured something and turned over in his bed, but didn't wake up. Smirking, Phoebe tried again, "Joey, wake up!" She said louder. Nothing. She walked closer so that she was standing right beside him and held the cup of water directly above his head. "WAKE UP!" She yelled before spilling the water onto his face. Joey jumped up in his bed; his eyes wide open.

"Wha—huh? —Pheebs? What—Hey come on!" He finally realized what had happened.

"Get up sleepy head." Phoebe half-yelled.

"But it's so early" Joey whined.

"It's 11:48!" She said in disbelief.

"Yeah! Exactly!" He said as if she was proving him right. Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"Just get up. Listen to us, we sound like an old married couple." She complained.

"Hey," Joey's expression brightened up, "you wanna—" He smirked at her and gestured, or tried to gesture, something suggestive with his hands.

Phoebe laughed and shook her head at him. "Oh you." She pinched his cheek and he looked at her weirdly. "We talked about this remember?" She said, almost sympathetically and jokingly at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah. Gotta try though, you know?" Joey said matter-of-factly.

"Just get up already."

"Get out first."

"No! Get up."

"Ok. But I'm naked." Joey smirked.

"And I'm out." Phoebe quickly left the room, closing the door behind her and going to make something to eat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ross woke up late. It was almost noon. He quickly got up, took a shower, dressed and went downstairs. The Gellers hadn't come home yet, he noticed. However, Monica and Chandler were sitting at the table, chatting casually. He sat down on a chair between them (they were on different sides of the table).

"Morning."

"Hey Ross. You're up… um late." Monica said. Chandler just nodded to him.

"Yeah well. When'd you guys get up?"

"A few hours ago…" Chandler said vaguely. They'd been up since about 7 AM truthfully.

"Are we doing anything today?"

"Nah, just meeting Rachel, Joey and Phoebe at Central Perk again." Chandler answered. Ross's eyes glazed over at the thought of Rachel.

"Ok. Well I'm gonna go get something to eat." He left the room.

Knowing that nothing would be heard from the kitchen, Monica whispered to Chandler, "Think he suspects anything?"

"No I doubt it. You still got that headache?" He asked sympathetically. She nodded and winced slightly as she did so.

"It's better though. Chandler, what are we going to do? I mean, we can't just not tell anyone…" She continued whispering across the table.

"We won't not tell anyone… we just won't tell Ross." Chandler said like it was the easiest solution in the world.

"Oh yeah, that'll be easy. Let's see, I tell Rachel, which I will and you can't do anything to stop me," she added as Chandler started to open his mouth to protest. He immediately closed it. "Ok, and she's going out with him… one mention of either of us and she's gonna tell. I mean I love her, she's my best friend, but honestly, she's not that good at keeping secrets." Chandler nodded. "So what do we do?"

"I get we'll have to face Ross." Chandler said nervously.

"Yeah… it won't be that bad." Monica said unconvincingly. Just then Ross walked into the room.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Just… our date Friday night." Chandler said, a little nervously. Ross was very protective of his sister, he knew.

"WHAT???" Yep, there's the yelling.

"Ross." Monica started and he turned his murderous stare to her. "Hey Ross." She said nervously. He kept staring.

"What do you mean, date?" Ross tried to sound casual.

"I mean… Chandler asked me out and I accepted." Monica said, suddenly getting brave.

"YOU DID WHAT??" He turned back to Chandler who winced and shrunk back in his seat. Not that anyone could blame him. Ross was very intimidating when he got mad. "You… YOU… I can't believe this. My little sister is going out with my best friend." He considered that for a moment.

"So? You're going out with _my_ best friend!" Monica retorted.

"Wha—you—Don't bring Rachel into this now."

"Oh why not? It's the same situation. I'm happy for the two of you; why can't you be happy for us?" It ran in the family; Monica was perhaps even more intimidating when she wanted to be.

"I—I am…" Ross said unsurely. Now he was the one backing away.

"Oh please."

"Well I guess it's not that bad. I mean, at least I know him and all… Actually this is kinda great. My sister and my best friend! Aww" He hugged Chandler, who was stunned but hugged him back. Then he went and hugged Monica. Pulling away, he had a look of suspicion on his face. "Monica… have you been _drinking_??" And Monica shrunk back, suddenly wishing she knew how to turn invisible.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aah and finally we turn to Rachel. She's quite a sleepyhead, you know. Woke up the latest, at almost 1 PM! She had just enough time to get ready before going to meet the rest at Central Perk. Don't even have anything to write about her. Even if you want me to describe her showering, I won't. Get your sick mind out of there. OUT!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Joey and Phoebe arrived at Central Perk first. They took their usual seats on the opposing armchairs and talked about various things until Rachel turned up about twenty minutes later.

"Hey you guys." She said cheerfully, sitting down on the couch after ordering an iced cappuccino.

"Hey Rach." Phoebe greeted cheerfully.

"How _you _doin'?" Joey smirked.

"Stop that." Rachel said after a pause.

"Sorry. Gotta try." He replied.

"So you two, you're not… romantically involved or anything?" That's been bugging Rachel for a while.

"Us? No!" Phoebe said, sounding as if the idea was ridiculous. "Why would you think that?" She added innocently.

"Well you do spend a lot of time together and all…"

"Oh no, we've been best friends for a while though, that's why." Just then, Monica, Chandler and Ross walked in. Ross was mumbling and yelling out things once in a while, to himself or to one of the other two. Monica was cowering beside Chandler, who was trying to look brave but still hid as far as he could from Ross. Ross, in general, looked like he was about to explode.

"Um hi." Rachel said uncertainly.

Ross looked at her, mumbled something incoherent and then shook his head and turned to the counter. Chandler and Monica waved slightly, looking a bit shaken up and sat down beside Rachel.

"So… what happened?" Rachel asked, looking over the two and Ross, who seemed to still be in a slightly insane stage.

"Umm well yesterday… I got kinda drunk… and told Chandler I liked him…" Monica said nervously.

"A lot." Chandler grinned.

Monica gave him an evil stare. "Anyway and then I woke up all hung over and Chandler kinda asked me out…" She said shyly.

"Hmm kinda?" Rachel asked.

Monica blushed. "So we're gonna go out on Friday!" She almost squeaked.

"Aww that's so great for you guys!" Rachel said, looking at the couple, who both blushed but smiled.

"Yeah! Aww you guys are so cute!" Phoebe added. Monica stared at her. "What?"

"Phoebe you were flirting with Chandler non-stop yesterday." Monica said angrily.

"I was not!" She sounded outraged.

"Uh yeah, you were." Rachel added.

"Oh my god, I was?" Phoebe put her hand over her mouth. "Oh… I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to." She said in all sincerity. "Great." She added bitterly in a sarcastic tone. "This always happens, you know."

"You didn't mean to?" Monica asked incredulously.

"Yeah I don't know how, I just… I'm sorry." She apologized again.

"Hey, you never flirted with _me_!" Joey whined.

"Really?" Phoebe asked. "Hey Joey." She added in a sexy tone and Joey smirked, looking flustered.

Monica and Chandler were watching the scene. Monica shrugged. "I believe her."

"Yeah me too." Chandler said.

Ross came over carrying a cup of strong coffee. He took a sip of it and spit it out. "What the hell is this?" He yelled at the cup, then rolled his eyes and turned back to the counter. A few minutes later he returned, with a cappuccino this time. He sat down beside Rachel.

"So Ross, how are you feeling?" She asked, concerned.

"Fine. Ok. I'm good. I'm better." Ross said quickly.

"Uh huh."

"No, no, I am. See? I'm good. I'm happy. We're still on for Friday right?" He asked Rachel suddenly.

"Of course." She sounded surprised. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Oh no reason, no reason."

And the day went on as usual, pointlessly and far from normal, but nevertheless fun for the six of friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**_Ok, um I apologize because this chapter is about NOTHING. I was planning for this to be the next day of school but that wouldn't work with Monica being drunk and all so the school day will be next chapter, so will be all days from Wednesday through Friday, meaning both Rachel and Ross's and Chandler and Monica's dates and the whole Mindy, Leana and Melanie fiasco. At least I updated. And you got a long chapter about, well, an ordinary day of the friends' kind. Please review kindly and take into consideration that the amount of time I take to update depends on the length and niceness of the reviews. Lol, just kidding (although it kinda does). Love ya guys! See ya next time, and I hope you liked this!_**


	7. The Date

**_It's me again. Hi! I think this is where the summer part of the summer kicks in for me and that's why I have trouble updating like I should. I'm sorry and I honestly try. I think I just kind of eased off on this story because it's almost over and I have everything planned out already. So, I'm sorry. After my chapter about nothing basically (only the beginning was actually important), this is my extremely eventful chapter. See how bad I am at balancing things? This is Wednesday, the first day of school since Rachel's "friends" said they're going to ruin her life for not choosing them over Monica and company. This will also skip quickly through Thursday and continue onto Friday, ok? I'll tell you when._** **_Well, aren't you glad I'm updating? No? Well then just read the story._**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rachel walked into the school halls with Monica, chatting about random things. Almost immediately, they noticed that people were staring strangely at Rachel, pointing to her and talking about something to each other. Nevertheless, the two walked over to their lockers to get their things for the first period, not paying attention to them.

"Rachel." Mindy had come up behind her former friend, followed, of course, by Leana and Melanie.

"Mindy." Rachel replied coldly.

"I assume you haven't changed your decision yet."

"You assume right." Rachel turned and walked off with Monica to their class, leaving Mindy, once more, furious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The day passed by in a hurry and Rachel barely took notice of the change of people's reactions to her. Both Monica and her had tons of work to do since they had neglected it for the past few days and they spent the rest of the day studying. And, even though they went to sleep past 3 AM, Rachel woke up refreshed and excited. Tonight was her date with Ross. She jumped up and hurried to wake up Monica (she was staying at their house for the night since the Gellers absolutely refused to let her go home that late, alone).

"What?" Monica grumbled.

"Wake up already!" Rachel shook her best friend.

"What are you so excited about?" Monica asked, annoyed, as Rachel shook her awake.

"It's Friday, you know." Rachel said as an answer.

"And…" Monica mumbled. Then she bolted up in her bed and looked around, suddenly feeling energized. "Oh my God, it's _Friday_!" She exclaimed, quickly getting off her bed. Rachel laughed at her. She just remembered that the two of them had dates tonight.

"Yeah." Rachel sighed. "Now get ready and let's get school over with."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For just about the first time in her life, Rachel felt so out of place in school. The people she had thought to be her friends were suddenly ignoring her or insulting her as if they were sworn enemies. Only Monica was sticking with her.

"What is it?" Rachel asked Monica exasperatedly as a group of students walking by them looked at her in disgust.

"Can't you guess?" Monica asked quietly, looking across the hall. There, Mindy was standing with Leana and Melanie, looking triumphant.

"Mindy." Rachel then said coldly, realizing. Then she laughed a bitter laugh. "She says two words and everyone hates me."

"I'm sorry." Monica looked down.

"Forget it Mon. Let's go. We still got dates to get to." Rachel said, the thought of her upcoming date making her smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Ross asked, concerned, as she seemed a bit distant. The two were sitting at a private table in the restaurant, candles and flowers setting a romantic mood around them. However, Rachel seemed to be upset about something and Ross didn't know what.

"Nothing. It's just that—" Rachel sighed. "I don't know, I'm just tired of being judged."

"What happened?"

"Mindy… she freaked out when I told her that I'm going out with you and she told me to choose between you guys and them and I chose you. And now…" She sighed, obviously confused and upset.

"Rach… look, someone who acts like that, probably was never a real friend in the first place…" He tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Ross. This place is so romantic and you're so great for taking me here and I'm upset over Mindy being a bitch." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Rachel, you don't have to do this, you know? I mean, if you break up with me then—"

"I've known you for a really long time, you know. And you're the greatest guy I ever met. And that's my choice. I don't care what anyone thinks about it." She looked up at him and he knew she was telling the truth. Dropping the topic, they had a perfect and romantic evening together and Rachel had her mind set on one thing.

Ross walked Rachel to her front porch and they stopped to say goodbye. Rachel inched close to him and they shared a soft, loving, passionate kiss.

"Good night, Ross." Rachel breathed out, a little lightheaded.

"G-good night." Ross stuttered a bit, breathless from the kiss. Rachel went inside her house and he stayed still for a moment before walking off, feeling as if he was flying high in the clouds.

Rachel leaned back onto the door as she closed it. She touched her lips where Ross had kissed them and sighed happily, closing her eyes. Yes, her mind was definitely set on this. She was in love with Ross.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**_This is where I have to leave off. It's too short by my standards but I have to leave off here, sorry. It also took me so long to try to figure out a good way to describe the date but I couldn't so sorry it wasn't that good. I'm gonna skip through the weekend extremely quickly next chapter because Monday is when most of the plot-twisty important things will be happening. I'm going away for 10 days starting tomorrow and I (probably) won't be able to update before I leave, though I want to. I might, if my mom doesn't make me go to sleep tonight. If it was up to me, I'd never sleep but nooo…. Anyway, please review and I'll try to write the next chapter now and put it up right away too. Sorry about the long wait before and the ten days to come. Reviews are very very welcome :)_**


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